Nino Bagrationi Giorgi Bagrationi	Giorgi Bagrationi Gia Shervashidze

Vachedzor is located in the Niakom gorge at quite a distance from the village of Ildizkaia.

Vachedzor (Niakom) was a large monastery. It now comprises a large cruciform church of St Stephen, seven hall churches, a bell-tower, chapels and other subsidiary structures.

Built in the 9^th century, St Stephen’s is the main church of the monastery. It is of an ‘inscribed cross’ type with its dome carried by four round columns. The central nave ends in a semi-circular sanctuary. The south and north arms are short. Hence the extremely narrow shape of the pastophoria.

Especially noteworthy is a chapel to the east of the church, which preserves mural paintings dating from a later period, namely 13^th-14^th centuries.